CHAPTER XVI:
Christ willed to be born in the fullness of time when Augustus was
Monarch.

1. A phenomenon not to be forgotten attests
the truth of all the arguments placed in order
above, namely, that condition of mortals which
the Son of God, when about to become man for
the salvation of man, either awaited, or ordained
at such time as He willed. [1] For if from the fall
of our first parents, at which point of departure
began all our error, [2] we survey the ordering of
men and times, we shall find no perfect Monarchy,
nor the world everywhere at peace, save
under the divine Monarch Augustus. [3] That
men were then blessed with the tranquillity of
universal peace all historians testify, and all illustrious
poets; this the writer of the gentleness
of Christ [4] felt it meet to confirm, and last of all
Paul, who called that most happy condition
"the fulness of the time." [5] Verily, time and
all temporal things were full, for no ministry to
our happiness lacked its minister. But what has
been the condition of the world since that day
the seamless robe [6] first suffered mutilation by
the claws of avarice, we can read -- would that we could not also see!
O human race! what tempests must need toss thee, what treasure be
thrown into the sea, what shipwrecks must be
endured, [7] so long as thou, like a beast of many
heads, [8] strivest after diverse ends! Thou art
sick in either intellect, [9] and sick likewise in thy
affection. Thou healest not thy high understanding
by argument irrefutable, nor thy lower
by the countenance of experience. Nor dost
thou heal thy affection by the sweetness of divine
persuasion, when the voice of the Holy
Spirit breathes upon thee, "Behold, how good and how pleasant it is
for brethren to dwell together in unity!" [10]

_______________

Notes:

1. For the outline of the argument in this chapter see
Orosius, Hist. 6. 22. 5.

Conv. 4. 5. 2: "The immeasurable Divine Goodness,
wishing to bring back to Itself the human creature, which by the sin of
the transgression of the first man had become separated from God and
unlike Him, it was decreed ... that the Son of God should descend to
earth to bring about this reunion. And since at His .... coming it behoved not only the heavens, but the earth, to be in the best
condition, and the best condition of the earth is under a monarchy ...
therefore Divine Providence ordained the people and the city wherein
this should be fulfilled, that is, Rome the glorious." De Mon. Book 2 is
devoted to this subject of Rome's foreordination.

2. The result of Adam's sin Matilda touches on in her
discourse with Dante on the nature of the terrestrial Paradise, Purg.
28. 91: "The highest Good, which does only its own pleasure, made the
man good and for good, and gave him this place for an earnest to him of
eternal peace. Through his own default he abode here little time;
through his own default he changed to weeping and toil honest laughter
and sweet mirth."

Par. 7. 26: "For not enduring to the faculty that wills
any curb for its own advantage, that man who was never born, in damning
himself, damned all his progeny." See De Mon. 2. 13. 1, and notes.

3. In the image symbolic of human history, Inf. 14. 94
ff., Dante identifies the golden age with the reign of Augustus. Line
112: "Every part beside the gold is burst with a cleft which drips
tears."

Par. 6. 55: "Hard upon that time when the heaven wholly
willed to bring back the world to its tranquil order, Caesar by the will
of Rome bare it ... It laid the world in such a peace that Janus had his
shrine locked up."

Conv. 4. 5. 3: "Nor
ever was, nor ever will be, this world so perfectly disposed as then.
... Universal peace reigned, which never was before nor ever will be
again, because the ship of human society sped over a smooth sea straight
to its destined port."

4. Luke 2. 1, 14.

5. Gal. 4. 4: "But
when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a
woman, made under the law." Cf: Eph. 1. 10.

6. John 19. 23: "Now
the coat was without seam, woven from the top throughout." Dante uses
the figure here to denote the undivided empire. The papal party used the
same figure in their arguments to denote undivided ecclesiastical
authority. De Mon. 3. 10. 4.

7. This figure of the ship
of human society is found in Conv. 4. 5. 3 (see note 3 of the
present chapter), Purg. 6. 77: "Ah, Italy ... ship without a
pilot in a great tempest," etc.

8. This mixed metaphor of
Dante's, "dum bellua multorum capitum factum," is a further illustration
of the evil of multiplicity and lack of concord in men's wills. Cf.
De Mon. 1. 15. 1, and note. Beside the evil of many discordant
wills, there is reference to the evils that may be included under the
term "bestial." See Conv. 4. 5. 3: "Vile beasts that pasture in
the shape of men." See especially Inf., cantos 12-17. Also note
14, De Mon. 2. 3.

9. The two intellects were
the possible or apprehensive intellect, and the active intelligence. Cf.
De Mon. 1. 3. 2. To these two powers Dante adds that of
affection.

Purg. 18. 55: "Man
knows not whence comes the understanding of the first cognitions, and
the affection of the first objects of appetite."

Par. 1. 120:
"Creatures ... that have intellect and love."

Par. 6. 122; 13. 120;
15. 43: "When the bow of his ardent affection was so slackened that his
speech descended towards the mark of our understanding, the first thing
that was by me understood was, 'Blessed be Thou, threefold and one.'"
L.c. 15. 73: "The affection and the thought when as the first
Equality appeared to you, became of one weight for each of you."

The two intellects and the
affection are the threefold means given to man by which he may arrive at
the unity which is goodness in completeness, and there may see and know
God. This suggests the means by which Dante achieves his vision in the
Divine Comedy -- Virgil, Beatrice, and St. Bernard.

Welcome, Library Patron.

(2) You will use the copyright-protected works in the Library only for individual study and enjoyment.

(3) You agree that your IP address may be blocked by the Library, if in the judgment of the Library, you have engaged in suspicious activity such as the use of mass downloaders, scrapers or other copying scripts.

Click here to confirm your agreement to these terms, and to set a cookie so you won't see this popup next time. Happy browsing and researching, and click below to donate and help us to rebuild the site.

Exit Survey

I am interested in:
Law and Government
Visual Arts
Cinema
Health
Music
Religion
Philosphy

I came to the Library:
To write a class paper
To do other research
To read for pleasure
Other